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The Universal Union
Overview Introduction The Combine Empire sprawls across multiple parallel universes, and includes an unknown number of sentient species. Details of the Combine's leadership and administrative structure remain unknown. On Earth, aliens called the Advisors are responsible for facilitating all communication and interaction with the Human race. The Combine manipulates species through a variety of means, including bioengineering and artificial implantation. The products of the Combine's re-engineering process are known as "synths", bio-mechanical organisms that serve a variety of functions within the empire. The Combine also uses their technology to create armies of super-soldiers, uniquely adapted to the particular environments of the conquered worlds. This process results in a highly mobile and adaptive military force which is able to respond to any threat and crush any opposition. Vocal stress is placed on the first syllable. The name is pronounced COM-bine, as in Combine harvester, as opposed to the verb form com-BINE, as in "to join together or unite." Dr. Breen refers to the Combine Soldiers and Civil Protection as "The Transhuman Arm of the Combine Overwatch" in Nova Prospekt, verifying that "Combine" is an accepted name of the empire, even by the empire itself. It is unknown how many worlds the Combine has under its control; it is known that in addition to Earth, the Combine invaded the home-world of the Nihilanth's species. The defeated Nihilanth escaped the onslaught and sought refuge in Xen. It brought with it members of a number of enslaved or allied species, including the Vortigaunts. Subsequent to the invasion of Nihilanth's unnamed home-world, Earth became the Combine's most recently known annexation. It was acquired following Earth's surrender at the end of the Seven Hour War. Following the standard Combine process, members of Earth's dominant species were modified to form a new arm of the Combine military. In addition to forming the bulk of the Combine garrison on Earth, in-game dialogue suggests that units of the Transhuman arm of Overwatch are also deployed across the Combine Empire in a "permanent off-world assignment". Assignment on other worlds is considered a horrible fate for Overwatch soldiers unfortunate enough to be stuck with it and is often used as a punishment. Equally dire is the threat of "permanent off-world relocation". Judging by dialogue from Breen, many of the territories under control by the Combine are nigh-uninhabitable by humans without special life support systems. Teleportation Despite the highly advanced technical capabilities of the Combine, they appear to have a relatively limited grasp of teleportation technology. Dr. Mossman explains that while the Combine can teleport from one universe to another, they do not know how to teleport between different locations in the same universe. The teleportation method developed by Black Mesa enables same-universe translocation, and as a result the Combine is eager to obtain information on their teleportation technology. Dr. Mossman actually helps the Combine build a teleporter with such capabilities in Nova Prospekt, but it is destroyed during Alyx and Gordon's escape. The Combine's method of teleportation appears to be highly inefficient compared to Black Mesa's equivalent; a large amount of power and massive pieces of machinery are required to perform teleportation, as seen at the end of Half-Life 2, where Dr. Breen attempts to escape from the Citadel using a Combine teleporter. This teleporter requires a dark fusion reactor to power it, while the teleporters designed by humans require relatively small amounts of power and very little machinery in comparison. Xen teleporters appear to require almost no machinery or energy of any kind. While the physics of teleportation are poorly explained, it is known that Xenian teleporters use Xen as a "dimensional slingshot," bouncing off of one universe to another and from one location in a certain universe to another in the same universe. Combine teleporters cannot do this, instead having to "tunnel" through dimensions to the target universe. Combine influence on Earth Invasion of Earth Following the Nihilanth's demise, the Combine found that it was able to use the portal storm that was occurring at the time to reach Earth, where it launched a massive invasion that culminated in the Seven Hour War. Statements made by the G-Man suggest that the human race was unable to mount any effective resistance to the Combine armies and that Earth's military forces were almost instantly overwhelmed. Dominance on Earth The Combine rules Earth from a massive structure known as the Citadel, this one being in City 17, where Dr. Breen runs his operation. At the end of Half-Life 2, as Doctor Breen attempts to teleport off of Earth using the dark fusion reactor, a massive portal is created and, through it, several buildings that resemble Citadels are visible. At the start of the game, the Combine appears to have almost complete dominance of the remaining pockets of civilized Earth and does not identify who Gordon Freeman is. However, Doctor Breen immediately informs a Combine Advisor of Freeman's appearance during a teleport accident, in which Gordon Freeman appeared in Doctor Breen's office for a brief amount of time. Only a handful of rebels, loosely organized in a ragtag resistance, are secretly opposing the Combine. Gordon Freeman's actions after his return eventually inspire a massive insurrection against the Combine in City 17, which results in a full-scale street war between the citizens and the Combine forces. The reasons behind the Combine's desire to control the Earth are unknown, other than the absorption of Earth's resources, the use of human teleporter technology and the enslavement and exploitation of its dominant species - the humans - for either menial work or military service, considering that "permanent off world assignment" is threatened to soldiers who fail in their attempts to kill or capture Gordon Freeman throughout the game. Suppression Field The Combine, since gaining dominance on Earth, has imposed a "suppression field," which serves to inhibit human reproduction. The field prohibits the formation of certain protein chains that are vital to human embryonic development; this has effectively reduced the global human birth rate to zero and has ensured that the humans currently alive will be the last generation. Doctor Breen addresses this issue to the people via a broadcast during the early levels of Half-Life 2 as the response to a letter written to him by a "concerned citizen." Avoiding answering the question itself, Breen explains that he believes the field is a positive influence, as it supposedly nullifies one of mankind's basest, most instinctual urges; he claims that the field will be deactivated once the humans prove that they "no longer need it." During the game, Resistance members occasionally make humorous remarks about the suppression field, such as "When this is all over, I'm gonna mate." It was initially thought that the suppression field somehow prevented human sexual urges, mainly due to Dr. Breen's statement that it was suppressing "the urge to reproduce," but this statement may, in fact, be referring to the suppression field's physiological effects causing human "urges" to diminish rather than to stop outright. In Half-Life 2: Episode One, it is revealed by Dr. Isaac Kleiner during his transmissions throughout the city that the suppression field has been disabled with the near destruction of the Citadel. He says that everyone who has escaped City 17 "should do their part" in the re-population of the human species "before the Combine attempt to restore their dominion." When Alyx Vance hears this, she remarks "Is Dr. Kleiner really telling everyone to... get busy?" Eli Vance jokingly gives Alyx and Gordon a similar suggestion, claiming to want grandchildren. This is a strange statement, as in the first game Gordon is at least 20 years old, where as Alyx was a newborn child. It may show knowledge about Freeman's stasis between HL1 and HL2. Human Genocide The Combine does not flinch at committing acts of extreme brutality and even genocide in order to maintain control over the human populace. In the Half-Life 2''Chapter ''Route Kanal, a refugee base is raided, and a few members of the base are lined up against the wall and shot just as Gordon arrives. The town of Ravenholm was shelled with the intention of killing all residents, and throughout the Highway 17 chapter, the player encounters numerous bodies in the houses of the coast, including some that have been burnt by the Combine in a bonfire. Depletion of Earth's Resources It is evident at several points in the game that the Combine is depleting Earth's natural resources. One of the official Half-Life 2 descriptions details how Gordon Freeman must return to "an Earth infested with aliens and being picked to the bone." 9 One of the most noticeable signs is that Earth's ocean levels have dropped dramatically. This can be seen during the coastal chapters Highway 17 and Sandtraps, and the waterways of City 17 in Route Kanal and Water Hazard. The coastline is littered with boats and ships resting on what was previously seabed, and there are various docks and piers that are no longer standing in water, but instead standing on the old seabed. At the beginning of Highway 17, Gordon arrives at a harbor which is now a considerable distance from the water's edge. Indications of the previous sea level can be judged by moss that had previously gathered on harbor structures at the edge of the water, but which now lies several feet higher than the ground level. It is mentioned in the book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar that this massive, planet-wide water drainage is accomplished through the presence of a giant Combine "drain," actually a teleporter, which sends the water to other Combine-enslaved planets. More generally, parts of the game world are flooded with parasitic Headcrabs and toxic waste, making them generally inhospitable to human life. Infrastructure is either decaying (as with Highway 17, which is in a state of incredible disrepair and littered with old rusting cars) or rendered completely useless (as with Nova Prospekt, where the traditional prison area is mostly flooded and run down, if not outright destroyed by the explosion at the end of the chapter Entanglement). Animals are rarely seen inside and outside of City 17, suggesting that they are critically endangered; though, strangely, birds are the only animals that are seen in Half-Life 2. The Fisherman in Lost Coast comments that there is no fish left to eat, only leeches that devour anyone who steps into the ocean, posing a further threat to humanity. Additionally, City 17 itself is being devoured, as Combine Walls spread outward from the Citadel, consuming the city's buildings. It is unknown whether the Combine is purely using this method to destroy the city, or whether it is actually gathering raw materials from the city's structures. During the development of Half-Life 2, the Combine originally had a huge industrial facility that was referred to as the Air Exchange, which gradually absorbed Earth's air and replaced it with chemicals and other murky gases which were harmful to humans, but most likely ideal for an environment that the Combine master race could inhabit. It was up to Gordon Freeman to travel to the Combine Air Exchange after the prison levels. Gordon's actions at the Air Exchange were to trigger the human insurrection against the Combine in City 17, but as the level was dropped, this was instead made to happen due to Gordon's actions at Nova Prospekt.1 Propoganda The Combine heavily relies on imagery through logos, symbols, and propaganda posters to assure their influence on Earth and remind its residents of their presence. Combine units - humanoid and Synth - also bear insignias, logos, and other markings. Many Combine posters are also scattered around City 17 and its sector (including the Coast, Nova Prospekt, etc.). Most of the time they include two common Combine symbols, with variants in color and image backgrounds. Most Combine imagery is quite abstract, and the intended messages can be very The Overwatch Combine Synths Combine Combat Technology Combine Architecture